Symbol Of A Deadman's Love
by Elmstreet81
Summary: April 26th 1999, that was the day he knew. That was the day he would look back on everyday after
1. Chapter 1

(April 26th 1999, that was the day he knew. That was the day he would look back on everyday after.)

The air in the arena was chilled that night, more so than on a usual Monday night Raw event. It was made that way to add some sort of ambience for the special ceremony between himself and the million dollar princess. The lights had been dimmed to an even lower hue than normal as well so that when the shadowed blue lights indicating his and the ministry of darkness' arrival turned on the whole place would be bathed in a setting straight out of an Edgar Allen Poe poem.

Mark Calloway had to admit that Vince McMahon had put a hell of a lot of thought into the backdrop for this part of the storyline. And as much as he didn't care for the guy he would have to admit that he was impressed by his creative idea. Although the man using his own nineteen year old daughter in the show did seem a bit wrong.

Stephanie McMahon was absolutely nothing like her spot light hungry father. No she was more like her mother who preferred to stay behind the scenes. And she was a hell of a lot smarter than either of her parents gave her credit for.

Mark had never really spent anytime with the woman before Vince suggested adding her into the MOD story. Oh, he had seen her over the years of course. After all he had been with the WWF company since 1990. At twenty five years old he made is debut as a brand new kind of wrestler and his made up image went over with the fans like a huge bang. It was the same night as his debut that he first laid eyes on nine year old Stephanie. At the time Mark had paid no mind to the little girl who ran around backstage listening to the older wrestlers tell her tales of the good old days in the business. No at the time she was just simply the new bosses lil girl.

Then somehow slowly over the last ten years he would find himself seeing the bosses lil girl not just backstage at shows but at signings and board meetings. Whenever he would pass her in a hallway and she smiled at him and whispered a low hello he would very politely nod his head in response. But still he never went out of his way to get to know her. It seemed he never had a reason too.

But that was before Backlash.

That was before the fake kidnapping.

And that was before he had found himself stuck in a hotel room with the woman.

After the whole Backlash event the previous night Mark had found himself rather stuck with Stephanie for a twenty four hour period. That was one aspect of the storyline he hadn't really took into account.

But while being stuck in a two bedrroom suit with her he had actually found himself taking the time to talk to her. Granted of course it had been her instead of him that had started the whole getting to know each other thing. He had simply sat down in the living area planning on watching some late night tv when it became very clear that Stephanie had other ideas.

At first he did not know what to think when she took a seat right across from him and pulled out a deck of cards asking if he preferred five card poker or spades with a slight smile.

It was the smile that got him.

And for some unknown reason he had spent most of the night playing cards with the bosses lil girl, whom by the time dawn broke he realized was not so little anymore.

And standing behind the curtain at the right hand side of the stage watching her being carried out on the giant undertaker symbol he can't seem to stop from thinking how vulnerable she appears. But that like the cold air and dimmed lights just helps with the act.

Taking one last look at the monitor in front of him Mark steps out from behind the curtain and begins walking down the ramp towards the ring as his alter ego The Undertaker. The crowd of fans surrounding the arena scream and shout as the act plays out before their eyes. The shocked gasps when pallbearer begins the ceremony almost causes him to break character and smile. How he manages to keep his cold demeanor in place is a miracle. But he never falters in his act and the show moves on perfectly like planned. The ministry throws Ken Shamrock from the ring after his fake rescue and Mark himself takes the big show down just like they practiced two days earlier. And then he pretends to lose and run away from Stone Cold.

As Stone Cold frees Stephanie from the metal symbol Mark stands behind the curtain once again watching the monitors. Only this time he feels a longing for someone he knows he can never have.


	2. Chapter 2

Wind…its only the wind or a tree branch rubbing against the window pane Mark thought as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. The dark blue bed sheets were pooled around his waist and tangled at his feet. And they were damp. But so was he. Laying his head in his hands he recalled very vividly the dream he had been having before the storm outside had awoken him.

It was always the same. No matter how many damn times it played inside his subconscious as he slept.

It was like a train wreck he knew was coming but could never avoid. And at the moment just before the inevitable crash she would smile. It was always the smile he remembered most about her.

Outside the farm houses' walls the storm was swirling with heavy winds and hard rain. While inside Mark's thoughts were swirling with images of a woman he had not seen in four months.

No that wasn't completely true. There had been that one day just two months back that he hadn't been able to stop himself from going to see her.

And now he wished he hadn't.

Showing up at her door after midnight might not have been the best idea he had ever had but it had been smarter than walking into the arena where everyone could see them. If just one small whisper of his presence in the area had reached Vince McMahon's ears there would have been trouble and it would have all been sent her way. He couldn't let that happen. The mistake had been his in the first place. He had been the one to cross the line not her. But to her father that never mattered. What had mattered was control. And Vince knew just how to keep that control. Threatening him had been the only thing the man could have ever used against her.

And he did.

After only five months together they had been ripped apart. Vince had enough money at his fingertips to make it appear as though Mark had been sleeping with Stephanie while she had still been underage. Getting some photos made and fake letters produced didn't even put a dent in the McMahon bank account. But it sure as hell did get Stephanie to do whatever her father asked to protect him. Mark had been crushed and touched all at the same time. No one had ever put their selves after him before. But she did. And he lost her for it.

Then two months later Mark had sat and watched his Stephanie marry another man along with the rest of RAWS' television audience. knowing that the marriage was indeed real unlike the shows fans had nearly destroyed him. He had known of Vince's intent to get Stephanie to give that pathetic man who called himself Triple H a chance. But Steph had not been interested in the caveman. No, she had only wanted him. And when her daddy discovered their secret relationship his world was shattered. Watching the woman he loved with every beat of his heart get used in yet another one of her fathers crazy storylines and be forced to wed a man of his choosing pissed Mark off.

In a purely emotional state he had driven for two days to catch up with the WWFS' next live event arriving just before the cameras started rolling. He sat in an old beat up Chevy truck he had rescued from some junk yard back in Texas until the show ended and all of the people he had worked with left the stadium for their hotels. He watched as friend after friend walked across the parking lot passing him without realizing he was there. Not one on them paid any notice to the Chevy.

Finally after another hour had passed Mark saw her exit the arena and walk straight towards a little white BMW. Turning the ignition over he pulled his truck out of the empty parking lot and followed her to a very nice looking hotel. Then parking his vehicle as far away from the hotels entrance as possible Mark began to silently stalk Stephanie as she made her way through the lobby and up to her room.

Once he stood outside her door he knocked without even worrying if her new husband was in the room with her. If the man was then he was in for one hell of a beating.

Stephanie had opened the door expecting to find Paul hung over already and complaining about losing his damn room key again. But what met her eyes was not her husband. Nope, standing outside her hotel room with his arms crossed over his chest was Mark Calaway. Her Mark Calaway. Or at least he had been hers if only for a very short amount of time.

The sight of her looking so real in front of him had taken Mark to heaven. It had been months since she had done as her father asked to keep him safe from some made up charges. His heart began beating heavily and he was not able to help himself that night when he saw her. Walking into the room he placed both his hands on either side of her face and kissed her. He kissed and worshiped her as if she were a Grecian goddess. And after their passion was spent he begged her to leave with him. Pleaded for her to throw away everything she knew.

But in the end he had lost. In the end she had told him that it did not matter how much she had loved him because she was now married. With tears in her eyes and barely held in sobs Stephanie sent him away.

Lost in horrible memories it took Mark a few minutes to notice the sound of the phone ringing on the bedside table next to him. The low rumble fit in almost perfectly with the rolling thunder outside.

Sparing a quick glance at the clock before picking up the phone receiver he wondered who the hell would be calling him at 2am. Not many people had his number. Hell most people didn't even know where he was.

Placing the receiver to his ear he got a shock so hard he thought for a moment lightning had struck him.

"Mark?", came her soft voice from the other side of the line.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mark", her soft voice asked from the other side of the line.

Her voice!

The sound of it in his ear caused a physical reaction through out his whole body. He could feel his chest contract, his legs stiffen painfully, and his blood didn't seem to be pumping at its normal rate of speed. Not to mention his heart had decided to skip a few beats leaving him feeling rather woozy. Deciding that sitting down would be a damn good idea Mark plopped down hard onto the bed next to him while continuing to keep the phone receiver held tightly against his ear. It took nearly two whole minutes before she spoke again.

"Mark are you there", she questioned in a low whisper. And the sound of it flowed through his ear to his brain like sweet magic. God he had missed hearing her voice. But why the hell the woman was calling him in the middle of the night was a question he just could not ignore. The answer to it would be the difference between listening further or hanging up the phone before ripping it right out of the wall and throwing it out the fucking window. Pushing down the sudden anger rising in his system Mark calmly asked, "How did you get this number"?

"Glenn gave it to me", was her quick reply.

Glenn? Why in the hell would his best friend give his number to the one woman on the planet that had ever been able to hurt him he wondered.

On the other side of the line Stephanie could hear him groan.

"Please don't be mad at him Mark. Please don't", she began to plead. "I practically had to beg him before he gave in. He didn't do…

"WHAT DO YOU WANT STEPHANIE", He very harshly asked through gritted teeth cutting off her useless rambling in the process.

"I..I..I didn't know who else to call. I'm sorry Mark".

"Why not try calling your husband", he spit out.

"No, I can't. I can't call Paul".

And the way she very slowly said every word on a single breath of air each let him know that something was wrong. He knew Stephanie well enough to be able to tell when she was scared, and she damn well sounded scared to him.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing really…he just…I mean we…well we….

"Damn it Steph what the hell did that son of a bitch do to you?"

"I walked in when he wasn't expecting me and he…., her voice trailed off so low Mark couldn't make out the rest of what she was saying. But he didn't need too. He could guess from the start of her story what had happened. That over hyped piece of shit had cheated on her and then hit her when she caught him. Well when he caught him the man would be lucky to only come out of the meeting sterile instead of dead. And Mark was already planning how to make that meeting happen. But first he had to take care of Stephanie.

"Where are you ?"

"I'm safe, no where near him or my parents."

"Steph tell me where you are sweetheart. I 'm coming to get you."

Pulling a pencil and old tattered notebook from the bedside tables drawer Mark wrote down the address and room number of the hotel Stephanie currently had herself hold up in. After telling her one last time to keep the door to her room locked and not open it for anyone but him he finally hung up the phone.

Sighing he looked out the bed room window at the storm still brewing. There was no way he could ride the Harley in that kinda weather. Plus if Steph had any luggage with her it wouldn't fit in the side bags. Nodding his head he grabbed the truck keys he kept hanging on an old rusted nail above the table before changing his sweat pants for jeans and some steel toed boots.


End file.
